It might just be MOUZ’ turn.

They’re going to have to win a big event soon, and IEM Cologne would be the perfect one to win in front of their home fans. Even if they’re not really German any more.

Don’t let reality ruin a great narrative.

They could - and maybe should - have been out in the quarters. FURIA had them by the cojones on map three, but bottled it hardcore. The Brazilians, or sort of Brazilians, were up 11-7 on Inferno but couldn’t find another round as their dream run ended in a nightmare.

That was heartbreaking; but it’s nice to see FURIA look like a real competitor again. FalleN on the big stage. YEKINDAR looking like VP YEKINDAR instead of the corpse that Liquid had. molodoy coming in hot. It was magical.

Magic doesn’t always mesh well with reality, though.

MOUZ were given the tough task of slaying the unslayable dragon, Team Vitality. This is a team who haven’t lost since WW2 or something, who are apparently the best team ever (and they still might be), and who would never lose again.

It might be MOUZ’s turn.

xertioN has had his issues with stage yips, but he was absolutely rampant as MOUZ not only slayed the beast, but cut its head off in two. xertioN and torzsi scythed through an uncharacteristically lethargic Vitality; though that’s more to do with how good MOUZ were.

MOUZ became the Godslayers in the Cathedral - and went straight through to the final.

The MongolZ put up a fight in a classic map in the Cathedral on Ancient, but crumbled to a convincing map two loss to NAVI. We might need to start having a tough conversation about The MongolZ on big stages against big teams.

We really don’t want to.

As has so often been the case in the last year or so, NAVI rose to face Spirit in the semi-final, and that was one step too far. donk blitzed NAVI with a 101 ADR and 58 kills, obviously. The kid is just a freak.

He just actually might be the best player ever. He’s a God.

But now he had to face the Godslayers in the final.